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...Luber and Engram knew little about business and less about manufacturing. But as food lovers and avid cooks, they were tired of tossing out stale spices in jars that were half full--there's only so much nutmeg you can use in a year. By 2007, The Seasoned Palate (TSP) was shipping its first packages. A year later, the culinary entrepreneurs' Smart Spice brand is about to land in all 273 Whole Foods stores in the U.S. "This is the most innovative thing since the spice grinder," says Perry Abbenante, chief grocery buyer for Whole Foods. "This is the next...
They chose to go strictly organic, with none of the additives or fillers low-end discounters rely on. They're hoping that style will help: the company's other line, TSP Spices, comes in sleek decorative 12-packet tins topped with colorful labels. And consumers like their story. "People sometimes joke that we're the Spice Girls," says Engram, "but that's a stretch, so I came up with the CardaMoms. Cardamom is the queen of spices, and we're always carting around our kids to things...
...spice market is worth about $1 billion at retail and is dominated by McCormick, which is also based in Baltimore. TSP has four full-time employees to McCormick's 8,000, so no one is mistaking Luber and Engram as a threat to the titan, whose annual global sales are $3 billion. TSP is hoping for sales on the order of $2 million to $2.5 million in 2008. "It's as if they're the elephant and we're the fly," says Engram...
...operate at a volume high enough to distribute nationally, Luber and Engram contract out most of their operations, from spice importing, labeling and packing to sales and distribution. They have yet to pay themselves a salary. Of the more than $1 million invested in TSP so far, about $500,000 has come from outside investors, the rest from the founders' pockets...
Gaining a significant share of the high-end spice market would be a notable accomplishment for the two career changers. TSP adviser Bob Burke, principal of Natural Products Consulting, who helped strategize for popular brands like Stonyfield Farm, Annie's Homegrown and Oregon Chai, says the two have a reasonable shot at success. "They're quick learners with an innovative concept that they execute with style and flair." Just as Annie's managed to take a bite out of Kraft's lock on the mac-and-cheese market, he says, TSP could eventually nibble out a nice niche...